MARLBOROUGH
Prices shown are approximate New Zealand retail. Wines available in export markets are shown as (A) Australia, (UK) and (US).
JUDGED BY
Michael Cooper
Winestate’s New Zealand editor is author of the internationally acclaimed Wine Atlas of New Zealand and the annual New Zealand Wines: Michael Cooper’s Buyer’s Guide. In the 2004 New Year Honours, Michael was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to wine writing.
SPARKLINGS
1 TASTED
1 RECOMMENDED
Hunter’s Miru Miru Reserve 2015
This classy sparkling is a blend of pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot meunier, bottlefermented and aged for over three years on its yeast lees. A distinctive, slightly broader style than most Champagnes, it has a fragrant, complex bouquet, leading into a crisp, dry palate with peachy, yeasty flavours, showing excellent richness, vigour and length. $40 (A)
SAUVIGNON BLANC
21 TASTED
20 RECOMMENDED
A strong class, reflecting the quality of the warm, dry, mid-to-late summer and early autumn in 2019, which yielded weighty wines with ripe, tropical fruit flavours and moderate acidity, delicious in their youth. The line-up also included two excellent examples of age-worthy, complex, barrel-fermented Marlborough sauvignon blanc.
Greywacke Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2019
Fleshy, ripe and rounded, this rich, sweet-fruited wine was grown in the Southern Valleys, Wairau Valley and the upper Awatere Valley. Made with some indigenous yeast fermentation in old oak barrels, it is attractively scented and weighty, with strong passionfruit/lime flavours, showing a distinct touch of complexity, and a dry, long finish. $28 (A, UK, US)
Greywacke Marlborough Wild Sauvignon 2017
This unusually elegant, complex and ageworthy sauvignon blanc was mostly fermented with indigenous yeasts in old French barriques, transferred out of oak prior to the next harvest, lees-matured for another eight months, and finally bottled in January 2019. It has a complex, still youthful bouquet, leading into a delicious, multi-layered wine, sweet-fruited and tightly structured, with highly impressive depth, complexity and harmony. $38 (A, UK, US)
Saint Clair Pioneer Block 1 Foundation Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2019
Full-on style, with mouthfilling body and penetrating, clearly herbaceous flavours, showing impressive delicacy, vigour and intensity. Youthful, slightly salty wine, with a crisp, dry, lasting finish. $27 (UK)
Saint Clair Pioneer Block 3 43 Degrees Marlborough Sauvignon
